The request to revise the M.S. in Mathematical Finance

Date: April 11, 2016
To: Belk College of Business
From: Office of Academic Affairs
Approved On: March 24, 2016
Approved by: Graduate Council
Implementation Date: Spring 2017

Note: Deletions are strikethroughs. Insertions are underlined.

Catalog Copy

Additional Admission Requirements

In addition to the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School, the following are required for admission to the Master of Science in Mathematical Finance program.

  1. A baccalaureate degree in a related field with a GPA of at least 2.75 out of 4.0 with an average of 3.0 in the junior and senior years.
  2. Acceptable scores on each portion of the GRE or GMAT.
  3. For applicants from non-English speaking countries, a language requirement score of 557 on the TOEFL or 220 on the new computer-based TOEFL or 78% on the MELAB. Non-native speakers of English, may, at the discretion of either the Graduate School or the Program Committee for the MS in Mathematical Finance, be required to enroll in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses at the English Language Training Institute.
  4. Specific coursework equivalent to the following: introductory course in the Theory of Finance; a standard two three semester sequence in Calculus; Linear algebra; working knowledge of a suitable programming language; at least one upper-level course in Probability and Statistics. Students are strongly recommended to be familiar with at least one programming language, most preferably C or C++. Students lacking this coursework may be admitted subject to the condition that they satisfactorily complete such coursework during the first two semesters that they are enrolled in the program and prior to their taking any program courses where prerequisites are missing.

Prerequisite Requirements

Students may enter this program from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds, including finance, mathematics, economics, computer science, actuarial science, statistics, information systems and engineering. As a result, many students admitted will not have the required background to immediately begin taking advanced courses from each of three areas of study. In such cases, the student may be required to take prerequisite courses prior to enrolling in advanced courses in specific fields. These prerequisites would be in addition to the advanced 30 semester hours required for the degree. In general students must have the following background in each field before taking advanced courses in that field:

  1. Finance: Have earned an acceptable grade in an introductory course in finance from an AACSB-accredited business school at either the undergraduate or MBA level.
  2. Economics: Have earned an acceptable grade in microeconomics and macroeconomic courses at either the undergraduate or MBA level.
  3. Mathematics: Have earned acceptable grades in the equivalent of a two three course sequence in calculus (differential and integral calculus), a course in linear algebra, and an upper-level course in probability and statistics.
  4. Programming: Students should be familiar with at least one programming language, most preferably C or C++.

Students are strongly recommended to be familiar with at least one programming language, most preferably C or C++. Again, students may be admitted to the program without meeting all of these requirements. The Program Director, in conjunction with the Departmental Graduate Coordinators, will evaluate each incoming student’s academic background to determine in which prerequisite courses the student will be required to enroll. A student who meets the prerequisites in a field may begin taking advanced courses in that field while still taking prerequisite courses in another field. A student must, however, be making satisfactory progress toward fulfilling his or her prerequisites in all fields to remain enrolled in the program.